Currently, electrical catheters consist of a hollow tube surrounding fine wires that are individually stripped, either by hand, by a laser, by bead blasting, by chemical etching, or various other methods, and terminated into bulky connectors and solder-cups. In an effort to reduce the size of the catheter, wires have been getting progressively smaller and smaller. As the wires get smaller they also become physically weaker. These weaker wires tend to break and become difficult to handle during the assembly process required for high conductor count catheters. Large numbers of very thin conductors running axially along a catheter are also notorious for being un-flexible and have a tendency to get tangled, twisted, nicked, kinked, skived (exposing the electrical conductor), broken or get in the way of any guiding or steering wires that may be in operation, thus creating electrical shorts and opens. With an increase in the number of conductors, space limitation enhances the electrical issues. Assembly time also increases as more wires are manually fed through the length of the catheter. Reworking and repairing the catheters becomes time consuming, and, in some cases, impossible without destroying the catheter.
A more desirable situation for modern catheters would be one that incorporates a system for easy termination of an ever increasing number of conductors and that allows for quick, reliable, and or redundant solder joints. Having a mechanical structure designed for flexibility would also aid in reducing field and assembly failures. Ideally, a new catheter termination system would also enable a production operator to easily switch between leaded and lead free solder without sacrificing production speed or capability.